From the University of Colorado newspaper comes a story about union organizers accused of harassing state employees:Last week, human resource directors from many state agencies met with leaders from several unions to voice their concerns about union organizers' tactics, which some called over-aggressive. One union organizer, employed by Colorado WINS, was arrested in downtown Denver in November for allegedly trespassing on Regional Transportation District property after attempting to distribute leaflets in an adjacent private building where a state agency is located. In a more recent incident, a union organizer who visited a Department of Corrections (DOC) employee at home, found himself on the business end of a gun. (The DOC could not … [Read more...]
Search Results for: Ritter executive order
Debunking One Lefty Lie about Ritter’s Executive Order
Rather than take on all the lies and distortions in the debate over Gov. Bill Ritter's unionization executive order en masse, it makes more sense to deal with them one at a time. For starters, in two previous posts (here and here), I highlighted the internal contradictions and patent inaccuracies in the Left's attempt to deny that the order constitutes "collective bargaining." Lefty political hit man David Sirota, who recently appeared on a TV show hosted by my boss Jon Caldara at the Independence Institute, told this to his "progressive" buddies at the national Left-wing echo chamber known as Huffington Post: The most absurd attack on Ritter is the one that claims he acted in secret - even though, of course, he campaigned on a pledge … [Read more...]
Liberal Post Writer Gets Issues Behind Ritter’s Executive Order
On Friday I highlighted the Left-labor-Democrat coalition's internal confusion about whether or not Gov. Ritter's executive order constitutes collective bargaining. Over the weekend, Denver Post editorialist Bob Ewegen - who has actually earned a degree in labor relations - set the record straight with some important observations: The ground rules for collective bargaining in the private sector are spelled out in the 1935 National Labor Relations Act, which does not cover public employees. Ritter's order basically paraphrases those federal regulations to apply to state (but not city or county) employees. The NLRA specifies how unions can be certified as "exclusive bargaining agents" for eligible employees in a specific workplace … [Read more...]
Ritter’s Executive Order: Is it Collective Bargaining or Not?
It's been kind of funny to watch the Democratic Party coalition in Colorado dance around the term "collective bargaining" since last Friday afternoon's executive order from Gov. Bill Ritter. Here is a sample: Denver Post (11/4/07): "Mitch Ackerman, president of Service Employees International Union Local 105, called the partnership with Kaiser a '21st century model of collective bargaining,' a departure from the traditionally adversarial relationship between managers and workers." Colorado Federation of Public Employees Press Release (11/6/07): "Union Leader Says Partnership is Not Collective Bargaining" Bill Ritter, Rocky Mountain News Speakout (11/6/07): "Twenty-nine states provide collective-bargaining rights to their employees. … [Read more...]
FTS: Ritter Mulls Collective Bargaining Executive Order
Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter looks to be more serious about his payback to Big Labor leaders than even earlier anticipated. As Face the State reports today - having uncovered key communications - the Governor is seriously considering an executive order to institute collective bargaining for state employees. The problem with the governor's proposed policy change is identified well by Republican state senators Kester and McElhany in a recent commentary for the Pueblo Chieftain: Why the secrecy? Maybe it is because they know collective bargaining is a train wreck waiting to happen. Just look at the cost incurred by other states that have gone down that path. Washington's state government, which began its experiment with collective bargaining … [Read more...]
State Employee Suffers Under Union Executive Order: Where’s Hick?
Coming off this weekend's big Republican State Assembly, we have heard both leading Republican candidates for governor -- Dan Maes and Scott McInnis -- declare the repeal of Bill Ritter's union executive order. I think we all get the point of how the policy is a raw deal for Colorado taxpayers. But what about state employees themselves? Enter Dave Ohmart, with his latest report:In a recent incident in Pueblo, Colorado WINS prevented Sgt. Jeff Hotchkiss, of the Department of Corrections, from participating in a vote that would have affected his work schedule. A few union members, very few, voted to make the correction officers’ work schedule 12 hours per day. The sergeant, and pretty much all other officers, were not allowed to … [Read more...]
Post Smacks Bill Ritter on Education Reform: What Did You Expect?
Update, 3/5: Better late than never, I guess. At least Ritter has finally named members to his "educator effectiveness" panel, for whatever that's worth. I don't mean to kick a man when he's down, especially when he's biked his way into the hospital with broken ribs. But it was quite the experience to open the virtual pages of the Denver Post this morning and read the lead editorial raking Governor Bill Ritter over the coals for his weak-kneed half-efforts at education reform:The governor's executive order was quite clear: Members of a panel who were to devise ways of linking teacher evaluations to student achievement were to meet on or before March 1. They have not. But don't blame panel members. Gov. Bill Ritter hasn't bothered … [Read more...]
How Bill Ritter Has Made Union Leaders Feel at Home on Taxpayers’ Time
Have any doubts that Ritter's union executive order has made Big Labor feel all cozy at home in state government? The intrepid Colorado Loses team reports on their union counterparts soliciting for members at an official meeting, on taxpayers' time:This past week, WINS organized and held a budget information meeting at the unemployment office. There was some budget guy from the state, there, along with a couple of union thugs. After the budget guy showed us the state of the state economy, a union guy got up and started soliciting for members. “We need to organize in our communities and in our offices.” WINS used a formal budget information format to seek membership. THIS IS INAPPROPRIATE USE OF GOVERNMENT BUILDINGS! … [Read more...]
Bill Ritter Needs Public Shame to Ensure Ethical Disclosures from Cabinet
Yesterday I brought to your attention the fact that Colorado Governor Bill Ritter publicly thanked the Independence Institute -- and speaking of thanks, thankfully no one (to the best of my knowledge) was hurt from overreacting to the shock while driving a vehicle or operating heavy machinery. Read Jessica Corry's new piece in the Denver section of the Huffington Post to find out exactly what sort of ethical shortcoming Bill Ritter had:Ahh, wouldn't it be nice? When you fail to comply with a law, just rewrite it. This is the strategy of Gov. Bill Ritter, a Colorado Democrat and former elected district attorney, who was questioned publicly this week after failing to enforce a major ethics executive order. Under the mandate, put into place … [Read more...]
Call Colorado Ethics Watch: Only One Ritter Cabinet “Conflict of Interest” Report
(H/T Complete Colorado) In his latest edition of Independence Investigates, my colleague Todd Shepherd reports a troubling fact about the Bill Ritter administration:Governor Ritter's office has only one "conflict of interest" report on file for the fifteen members of his cabinet, despite an executive order that requires each and every member of his cabinet to file such a disclosure. With this revelation, it's easy to say now that it hasn't been a great PR day for Ritter. Memo to the governor: Get your cabinet members to file the disclosures, or revoke the order and end the ethical pretense. Simple as that. Hey, why doesn't somebody call Colorado Ethics Watch and see if they'll file an official complaint about this apparent breach of … [Read more...]
- 1
- 2
- 3
- …
- 8
- Next Page »